Pages

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Friday News Roundup

In a recent press release from the American Heart Association, a research report from the Journal of the American Heart Association was released. A study found that every hour spent in front of the television per day brings with it an 11 percent greater risk of premature death from all causes, and an 18 percent greater risk from dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings apply to both obese and overweight people as well as people with a healthy weight because prolonged periods of sitting have an unhealthy influence on blood sugar and blood fat levels.

Keep in mind that this isn't just sitting at the TV--this includes sitting at your desk, too.

A University of London study done for Hewlett-Packard found that "infomania"--a term connected with addiction to email and texting--can lower your IQ by twice as much as smoking marijuana. Moreover, email can raise the levels of noradrenaline and dopamine in your brain by constantly introducing new stimuli into your day. When those levels get too high, complex thinking becomes more difficult, making it harder to make decision and solve problems. The article gives several suggestions: take control of email, prioritize your prioritizing, blind-side the date (approach it form an unexpected direction), do less, and unplug.

A study published by Ohio State University researchers in Psychosomatic Medicine showed that women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. IL-6 is an important part of the body's inflammatory response. It has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and a variety of other age-related debilitating diseases. Reducing inflammation may provide substantial short and long-term health benefits.